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| UMSOBOMVU LAUNCHES A BIGGER, BETTER YOUTH CENTRE 30 January 2008 Nelspruit-Mpumalanga Premier, Thabang Makwetla and Umsobomvu Youth Fund CEO,Malose Kekana, last night launched a first multi purpose youth advisory centre in the provincial capital, of Mpumalanga , Nelspruit. Dignitaries at the Nelspruit launch included the Premier of Mpumalanga, Mr Thabang Makwetla, Mayor of Mbombela Local Municipality, Mr J Nsibande and the MEC of Economic Development and Planning Mr C Padayachee Established in 2001, Umsobomvu has over the years been responsible for implementing and mainstreaming youth development programmes for young South Africans between the ages of 18 – 35 years old and women to help them have sustainable livelihoods. Through the implementation of YACs and other Umsobomvu access points, the organisation managed to reach close to 500 000 young people in 2006 alone and wants to reach more – one of the main reasons for the expansion of the Nelspruit YAC. “After seeing how effective our YACs have been in terms of service provision and accessibility to communities across South Africa, we sought to expand the existing ones which would from now on offer all our services and products at one place,” said Malose Kekana, Umsobomvu's chief executive officer. “We will be opening more full-service YACs in Durban , Rustenburg, Witbank and Cape Town and other provinces to enhance our visibility and accessibility to young South Africans,” Kekana added. “For many of our youth,access to information is one of the major constraints that hamper their development.Access to career information,job opportunites,bsiness development opportunites,and economic development services remain a challenge for our youth in general and in far flung rural areas in particular,” said the Mpumalanga province Premier, Thabang Makwetla. “In a developing economy,we need to expand coverage of youth development services to underdeveloped parts of the country so that we stimulate local economic development,and impact positively on employment and entrepreneuship opportunities” he explained. Other services on offer at the Nelspruit YAC are trained staff that provide information and counseling support services on careers, assessments, study strategies for young people who are still at school; job preparedness services which assist a young person on the skills of writing a selling CV, help in preparing for an interview and/or preparing for the work environment. The YAC staff will also refer young people to relevant employment agencies or youth service providers that can help them look for jobs. In addition, the YAC will assist budding entrepreneurs by offering them business development services to help them create, enhance or sustain their enterprises as well at to link them to business or employment opportunities. The YAC will also assist students by providing scholarship, linking them to bursaries, learnerships, volunteerships and internship information while also providing contact details for educational institutions for those seeking to study further. Trained staff will also offer one on one consultation with infomediaries, offer business consultancy vouchers which a young entrepreneur can use to purchase business support services such as business plan development, marketing and branding of the business, financial administration and other services. The South African Youth card (SAY) which is offered for free, offers discounts on, among others, movies, books and travel. Microfinance will offer loans of up to R100 000. “We want to see every young person around Nelspruit make use of this centre for his/her benefit - it is there for young people. And Umsobomvu will continue to do its ultimate best to make sure that YACs are user-friendly and that all the tools that young people need to empower themselves are at their reach,” Kekana concluded. For more information contact :
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